Traveling Circus in the Woods
by CherryChirdorin
Summary: Drop by and see him, drop by and see him! The beautiful Mermaid, the Wolf, the Diva, admire them all, ravish their beings! Drop by and see them! "How...How did it come to this..." Oh, oh the deformity!
1. Chapter 1

Seven wandering children in their teens discover the circus in the woods. Against their better judgment, they sneak a peek, and are sickened. The Ringmaster catches them, and tells them to come back tomorrow. He says that they need to watch the show. And if they enjoy it, he won't report the incident to their parents. Luka let's it slip that she, Miku, and Mikuo live in an orphanage. Rin let's it slip that her parents are constantly away at work, so the ones who take care of her for the most part are Len's parents. Kaito admits he lives an hour away by carriage. Gumi says that she lives alone with her sick grandmother. The Ringmaster only smiles.

"All the more reason to come. Drop by and see them!"


	2. Beginning

**Another new story? Leave me be, I'm easily inspired XD not sure if that's a bad thing...or good thing...**

**Anyway, I recently listened to Dark Woods Circus, for the first time in nearly two whole years. I guess the separation gave me a chance to come up with a story for it XD and I did change the mutation of Rin and Len, only because they'll be the "main couple" (since main characters aren't necessarily specified until later in the story, for now it's a "main group". And them being attached is reallllllyyyyyy weird for a couple. I mean I know some of you have that whole "trials and tribulations" thing going on where you'll take that and make it make the story better, but I prefer my romances somehwhat normallish ;v; so I made Rin a "mermaid" and Len a "wolf" **

**Also, I made the chapter shorter. This isn't a prologue, but chapter one. I have so many unfinished chapters being written, including the chapters for GAP and my soul eater fanfic, as well as other fanfic that I just haven't finished to post. All because I'm hell bent on making my chapters long. But now it's like, "flip it" I'll just finish the chapter at an appropriate place and then start writing the next one. Yeah. Anyway, I son't want the AN getting longer than the chap itself, so onward!**

p"We now Present to you, the Dark Woods Circus' most prized possesions!" A handsome man in a pinstripe suit and top hat gestured towards a large bird cage, perched in it a girl with beautiful long teal hair that spilled all across the cage. She would have been a beauty, if it wasn't for her skin complexion, that of a body who was no longer living, and her legs, once long and thin, now replaced with the legs of a horse, white, furry, and overall mismatched with the rest of her human body. The girl had sun visor glasses over her eyes, because she could no longer see and the sensitivity of light to her blind eyes were damaging on her concentration.

"The Deformed Diva! Sing for us, you majestic creature!" That she did, four short, yet beautifully sounding notes that came in a high pitched sweet voice. Behind it was the sound of agony.

The man gestured again to another cage after the applause finished. This one was made of glass and contained water. It sat on a pulley with four wheels and was rather large. A tank if you will.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Mermaid!" In the tank was a girl, seemingly younger than the previous but at most two years. She had medium length blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and fair skin. She wore no shirt, or undershirt, her upper body and chest bared. Starting at her hips was a sheer white skirt, tightish around her hips and thighs and gradually getting looser down her legs before it spread at the ankles and flowed in the water like a mermaid's tail. Because the skirt was white, sheer, and somewhat transpearant in water, you could see that the girl's legs were sewn tightly together from her core down all the way to her biggest toe. Her sewn legs and the white skirt together made the effect of a mermaid's lower half.

"Swim for us my darling~" he chorused. The girl smiled brightly, blue eyes almost showing a broken nonexistence in them. She took a deep breath, as she was still an oxygen breathing human (but believe me when I say they've tried time and time again to change that), and swam smoothly through the large tank, pleasing the crowd and earning loud applause. She came back up for air and continued her grinning, grabbing unto the edge of the glass tank to hold herself up, and waving her "tail" through the water.

The man moved to the next one. Similar in looks, this boy seemed about the same age as the Mermaid. His golden hair was of the same length, and tied into a messy ponytail, his bags equally as messy. Where his ears should have been was red slightly raised bumps that had sewing lines running over them. At the top of his head, this boy had the ears of a wolf stitched on. A wolfs tail came out from his lower back. He sat there languidly in his short sleeveless vest and pinstripe black pants. His cerulean eyes held a brokeness too, a much different kind to the previous girl however. It showed a brokeness similar to that of the Diva.

"We have our Little Red Wolf. Howl for us boy!" The boy was deaf, and so to properly give directions, the man used sign language. The boy nodded in understanding and gave a wolfs howl. And though his howl was imperfect, considering he too was just a human imitating a wolf's howl, the crowed cheered and roared nonetheless.

"Our Blue Beast as well!" He turned towards a young man whose skin was pale blue in hue. His hair, a dark navy blue, dangled messily in his eyes. His expression was blank, save for his sadistic smile, drool leaking from his mouth. This one, the Beast, was locked in a cage as well, in a straight-jacket and layed on the floor of his prison. He looked to be about two years older than the Diva, about two-three older than the Wolf and the Mermaid.

"Come now, show us your savagery!" The man threw in human arms, probably from children who no longer survived the circus. The boy attacked the arms quickly, messily eating them, tearing at the flesh and devouring every last morsel. The crowd was once again pleased with the display of deformity.

The man continued down the line, showcasing the other best of the best they had in the circus. The Emerald Beast, a girl with overly long neon green hair that sparkled like diamonds, but her skin held cracks in it, and she looked as if someone had dropped her, like she broke like a glass mirror. She was blindfolded, and for the most part, save for the cracks, her body was intact. Her arms were tied behind her back. Next to her was a girl similar in appearance, but with coral pink hair. She was called the Pearl Beast.

He then introduced the Attacker, a boy, who looked similar to the Diva and looked similar in age as well, was used to help rape the participants of the circus. He too was blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. But other than that, he was intact as well. Surely the others envy him. But of course, his job was not easy, and weighed heavily on his mind constantly.

"Ah, but tonight is only a showcase! Tomorrow, tomorrow I will bring you these children, the best of the best, as well as the others belonging in this wonderful circus, and we shall indeed show what it is we do here, at the Dark Woods Circus!"

"Oh, the deformity!"

"Okay, next game! Arrange the sticks into the word of your favourite color!" A teal headed girl, approximately fifteen stated. She, along with six others, sat in a circle at a meadow. The gang of children met daily to play series of games until the sun set. They were in the lower classed parts of the society, so they owned no toys. This, is what brought the six of them together, when they all happened to be in the meadow playing at the same time.

"First one done wins."

"What! Miku, no fair! You can definitely spell teal faster than orange, or yellow, or...any other color for that matter!" A blonde girl, fourteen, named Rin protested. Miku pouted.

"I was planning to spell out turquois..."

"Like hell you were!" Rin yelled back. She was greeted with a soft hand to her shoulder. She turned to her left, a boy similar in appearance giving her a reassuring look.

"Rin, instead of acting up, how about suggesting a different game." He said calmly. Rin blushed and pouted more. She and Len had known each other prior to meeting the others, and him being the only male her age she ever had contact with, prior to meeting Mikuo, it's only natural she had a crush on him. Little did she know he felt the same way.

A girl, or perhaps young woman would be a better used term, spoke up.

"Okay, how about hide and seek."

She had coral pink hair, blue eyes, and was well endowed. She was about seventeen. Kaito laughed at her suggestion.

"What, Luka? At your age suggesting hide and seek! You're the oldest one here!" He said. Luka rolled her eyes.

"First of all, I'm only older than you by a couple of months. Second of all, got any better suggestions?" She replied.

Kaito stopped laughing and shrugged.

"Okay! All in favour of a good ol' game of hide and seek, raise your hands!" Miku announced.

Rin's hand shot up immediately. She hadn't played hide and seek in years. And the last time she played, it was just her and Len, not with a big group like this. Surely a game meant for more than two people would be tons more fun with a group.

Len put his hand up too, then Mikuo, Luka, and Gumi. Kaito sluggishly raised his hand, seemingly not caring what it was they did at this point. Hanging out with these people for approximately three years, it was fair to say they did pretty much everything there was to do. A childish game of hide and seek couldn't hurt, right?

Luka smirked. "Alright, Kaito. Since you were the last to raise your hand, you get to be it." She grinned. Kaito's jaw dropped. Gumi released a relieved breath, while it was never stated how they would get picked, she was still the second to last person to raise her hand. A few seconds later, and she would have had to run around alone searching for everyone. A very eerie game, she thought. And eerie things were not good for scaredy cats like herself.

"Hey, hey, hey. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't you usually decide these things with that stupid bubble gum game!" He protested. Luka shrugged.

"No one remembers how that goes, Kaito." Mikuo said. "What was it again? Bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish?"

"How many pieces do you wish?" Rin finished.

"And then you ask the person. And then pound the hands that many times, and whoever it lands on gets out, right? We stand in a circle with our fists pushed together, and the last person left is it, I think..." Miku suggested. Kaito threw his hands up in the air.

"Aha, so you guys do remember, then let's-"

"Too late, it's already been decided." Luka said. Kaito gave Luka a long hard stare. He sighed and gave in. There's no winning with Luka.

"Alright. Alright fine. But I won't go easy on you guys. I have photographic memory, so I have every crook and nanny of this town memorized." He reminded them. Kaito used to live in the orphanage with Miku, Mikuo, and Luka. But when his talents and intelligence were discovered years ago, he ended up being adopted by a wealthy family that lived in a mansion approximately an hour away from the town. Two hours by foot. And so even though he acts coldly sometimes, everyone knew that Kaito loved every single one of them, considering he walked a total of four hours daily, just to see them. He could have just forgotten about his childhood friends, and lived the wealthy life making new ones. But he didn't. And maybe it was because of his photographic memory, or maybe that he just really cared about them. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

Everyone nodded and began their descent. Luka turned around.

"Count to 200. There's a market in town today, so that's off limits. Only this meadow and the edge of the forest." She clarifies to Kaito and everyone else.

Rin grabbed Len's hand and they ran off. She shouted to Kaito without looking back.

"No peeking!"

Miku too shouted something.

"No skipping numbers! One Mississippi, okay?"

Mikuo wished him good luck, and Gumi simply followed off after Miku, so she wouldn't have to hide alone.

Kaito began his count. He purposely looked at where everyone was going, and he unconciously remembered who went in what direction.

Forever burned into his memory.


	3. Beginning Part II

_50 Mississippi_

Rin and Len ran further and further into the meadows. It was fairly large, about the size of a professional football field. It had healthy shining green grasses, with white, yellow, and lavender flowers to dot it all around. It was known best for it's simple beauty.

Towars the edge of the meadow were taller grasses, a different kind to the medium height grasses occupying the rest of it. Len decided this would be a good hiding spot for now.

"Rin, let's stop here."

Rin gave him a disapproving look. "It'll be the first place he checks, Len! I don't want my first time playing with others to end so quickly..."

"It'll be fine. We can see him, but he can't see us. So if he get's closer, we can simply move." He patted her head and reassured her. Rn continued to pout, something she did often, but complied. They hid in the tall grasses, and Len split a small space between the grasses to see. Kaito should still be counting.

_100 Mississippi_

Gumi ran after Miku who was speed walking to the edge of the forest. Miku edged into a large bush, and gumi tried to squeeze in as well. Miku flipped.

"Gumi, hide somewhere else!" Gumi shook her head and continued her attemps to squeeze into the bush. Miku pushed her out and got out as well, standing tall.

"Listen, 'safety in numbers' does not work for hide and seek! You have to hide on your own Gumi." She said, leaving no room for option. She climbed back in. Gumi whimpered and surveyed her surroundings. If she could not hide with Miku, perhaps near her should suffice?

She spotted a nearby tree with branches placed, almost perfectly, for climbing. The branches led high up. And the tree was close enough to Miku's bush that she wouldn't feel scared and alone. She decided that'd be her hiding spot.

_150 Mississippi_

Mikuo ran to the edge of the forest, finding a large log that he could hide inside of. He first checked for spider webs and insects, and seeing it was clear, he climbed in, lying in wait.

_200 Mississippi_

Kaito uncovered his eyes and spotted coral hair whisping into the forest.

"Perfect. Luka herself can be my first 'victim'"

He ran towards her direction, away from everyone else.

Luka seemed to disobey her own rules and ran deeper and deeper into the forest. Kaito would be fine, he'd been in that particular forest many times over, so he'd know his way out. But retrieving the athletic Luka may prove to be quite a feat.

She dodged trees expertly and surveyed her surroundings as she ran, looking for candidate hiding spaces. Perhaps she was going deeper in by accident? Regardless, Kaito followed her in, intent on not leaving without her, since A) she would be lost without him, and B) it was getting dark. So whether or not he found everyone, they'd need to leave soon anyway. Whose idea was it to play hide and seek this late into the day agian? Ah, that's right. Luka herself.

Len and Rin walked back to their previous gathering area by the meadow, where they also saw Mikuo, Gumi, and Miku standing. It'd already been twenty minutes, and now it was dark. What were Kaito and Luka doing? Luka wasn't back yet, so Kaito must've been pursuing her. Miku looked worried. Gumi was nervously looking around the dark meadow. The paranoid girl was known by the others to be afraid of the dark.

"Okay, I'm a bit concerned. Where did they go?" Miku said. Mikuo crossed his arms and looked puzzled. The two weren't ones to wander off or go home without telling anyone.

"I...I thought I saw them run into the forest..." Gumi said anxiously. Miku had a realization.

"That's right, Gumi! You were high up in the tree right! How far in did they go?" Miku asked. Gumi shrunk back.

"My eyes followed them for as long as I could see..." She said.

"That...the fact that at one point you could no longer see them means they went pretty far in..." Rin whispered.

A clock gong, far away sounding and possibly from the main town, rung. It rang eight times, signaling that it was eight o'clock. Way past their curfews. At this point, Kaito wouldn't make it home until ten, the rest wouldn't make it until about eight thirty.

But that was subject to change, considering they couldn't just leave without Kaito and Luka.

They all heard rustling in the bushes at that point. Len jumped in front of Rin, Mikuo took a quick glance back at her before going to grab his twin's hand, and Gumi squealed before latching onto Len's arm. Out from the bushes came a disheveled Kaito and Luka. They had huge grins on their faces.

"What the bloody hell were you guys doing!" Miku shrieked. She could see that there were leaves and small twigs in their hair, some parts of their clothes had pulls and tears, and Luka's ankle length skirt had dirt at the bottom.

"You guys! You won't believe what we found!" She said. Kaito looked equally as excited, unusual considering he was usually a stoic young man.

"Are you kidding me? You guys are the elders here and yet you left a group of minors to themselves. In the dark." Len said, a bit irritated himself, though he still remained calm.

He wasn't very happy about the fact that Rin's well being was being put at risk. Or anyone's for that matter. In their town, it was unsafe at night. Drug deals went on, children were kidnapped and sold for various purposes, murders and robberies occured. During the day it was vibrant and flourished with good people. But at night, evil ran it's course. The oldest ones there without the prescence of Luka amd Kaito were Miku and Mikuo at fifteen, Len and Rin at fourteen, and Gumi at twelve. They were sitting ducks for hungry prey.

"Oh shut up. We were only gone for about twenty minutes." Kaito huffed. He continued. "Anyway, we found a circus in town! In the forest! I think it starts at eight, since we saw so many people entering when the bell rang."

Everyone stared in silence.

"A...circus?" Rin asked. As someone whose parents were barely at home due to work, she hadn't traveled much. Even though Len's family often supervised her, they too weren't much richer than Rin's family, and so when they traveled places, they hadn't any extra money to bring Rin along, so she would spend those days alone at home, or helping Gumi take care of her grandmother.

"A circus is a place where they showcase animals that do tricks and strange people. I saw an eight foot tall man once." Len explained. Rin nodded in understanding.

"So, I found a little peeping whole in the side of the tent! Shall we get in on a free show?" Kaito suggested. Rin was the first to eagerly nod. Len complied only because Rin did. Miku and Mikuo glanced at each other before agreeing. Gumi was reluctant.

"Will...will we have to walk through the forest?" She asked. Kaito rolled his eyes.

"Of course!" She whimpered and clung tighter to Len's arm, he patted her head.

"Hey Kaito, you're rich now, right? Shouldn't you have enough pounds to pay for us?" Miku raised an eyebrow. Kaito waved his hands in defense.

"I don't work, and if I carried that much money on me daily, I'd eventually get robbed" he laughed nervously. Miku remained skeptical.

"And anyhow, isn't breaking the rules together a lot more fun than sitting in a crowd of people?" Luka suggested.

Everyone turned to her in shock. The ever so responsible Luka condoning this? She seemed to comprehend their apalled stares.

"I was sick when the orphanage took that trip to the circus, so I wanna see it too, geez." She defended herself.

"Alright, enough dilly-dallying!" Kaito said, pulling Gumi onto his back to forcibly bring her along.

They began their descent into the forest.

"Don't worry, I remember the way."


	4. Beginning III

The group of teenagers reached an enormous red and yellow striped tent after their short trek through the forest (a long and agonizing one for Gumi).

"Uwooohhh." Rin let out, a large grin splitting her face and reaching her eyes. Len chuckled at her surprised reaction. Luka had a similar reaction.

"Cool right!" Kaito whispered. He then put a finger to his lips. "We must be verrry quiet." He smirked. Rin did a zippering motion to her lips. Len silently laughed. Kaito put Gumi down from his back and she immediately ran to Len's side. Rin took up residence next to Mikuo, who was walking farther up ahead.

"I'm excited." She said giddily. "I've never been to a circus before!"

Mikuo smiled and grabbed her hand. Rin looked down, a little surprise, but let him keep her hand. Len looked on from behind, and was going to intervene, when a near tears Gumi made her presence known to him, by clutching his arm painfully. He winced. Mikuo wins this round, he thought.

Kaito reached the side of the tent where the small peep whole was.

"The show takes place up front, but I think this is the back where they keep all the animals and stuff. So looking here couldn't hurt anyone.

"Who first?" He continued. Rin imediately shot to the peephole, hand covering it before looking.

"I'm the only one who hasn't been to a circus yet." She announced proudly. Luka cleared her throat, but was promptly ignored by the younger blonde.

"...Alrighty. Rinny first, then." Kaito said.

Rin released her hand slowly from the peephole and put her eye to it. Her turquois iris scanned the room. She only saw empty cages, very large ones. Probably enough to house a few still-standing humans. She wondered if those particular ones were for the lions and such. She had heard from Len along the way that they had tamed live Lions, elephants with beautiful carpets draped over their backs, and giant dogs that jumped through fiery hoops.

Rin heard a door that she couldn't see open and close. Her eyes widened in anticipation and she scanned the room to see where the noise was coming from. From her left, she could see colorful garbs coming into view. This in itself was shocking to her, since the people of the town were only allowed to where white, black, or grey clothing on a daily basis, and colorful things during festivals and such. The fact that they didn't have many festivals (possibly once every few years) aside, only the rich could afford to have so many colorful clothes. She herself owned only one blue knee length dress that she wore to a festival once two years ago.

As the colorful clothing moved closer and closer into view, butterflies fluttered into Rin's stomach. Her grin unconciously grew.

But then the face...s...of the person came into view.

Her eyes now widened for entirely new purpose, the butterflies in her stomach moving faster and faster like a storm, making her nauseous. Rin slapped a hand to her mouth to keep from screaming and propelled herself away from the whole. She trembled and cried silently, hand still over her mouth, and caught in a cold sweat.

"Rin! Rin what's wrong!" Len and Mikuo ran to her aid immediately.

"I...I...Two...it had...Oh god...I feel...sick..." She stuttered out. Len looked up to Kaito in confusion. Kaito had an equally as puzzling expression. Luka quickly went to check the source of Rin's sudden fear. Luka as well recoiled in disgust.

"Dear god..." She whispered. This time Miku checked. It didn't take long for her to run to a tree and vomit. Kaito looked around.

"What's...what's wrong..." He asked, sweat dripping slowly down his forehead nervously. Shouldn't they be amazed?

Kaito himself finally checked, and his reaction wasn't much different from Rin's. He backed away slowly. Gumi walked to check, but Luka grabbed her in a motherly hold and turned her away. She told her not to look.

"..."

Inside the tent was a god forsaken human. A girl with Magenta curls and a pretty face that had stitches running down her neck. Her head was attached to something that indeed were her shoulders.

On her side at least.

Beside her head was anothers, identical in the sense of magenta hair and crimson eyes, but he appeared to be male in gender. They shared one body, two halves sewn together. And while the faces of these once humans were beautiful, their body was hideous, rotted, and smelled of destroyed flesh and flowers.

"I...I think we should go now." Kaito said. Len and Mikuo gave him curious glances, and Kaito gave a glance that said 'I'll explain later'. Rin was hardly able to stand, bur managed on her two wobbly legs and Len's shoulder. Luka looked incredibly depressed, and Miku was still recovering from her sudden loss of food. Gumi could only hold tightly to Luka, and try her best to will away her dangerous curiosity.

Suddenly they heard rustling of the bushes near the side of the tent, they all jumped, and in a rush of adrenaline, all of everyone's strength came rushing back, and they were prepared to sprint. A small head poked out from around, a young girl around six came around. She had maroon eyes and short brown hair, that was neatly parted to the side. She wore a red two piece; a vest and skirt with a white undershirt and white knee socks. Everyone sighed in relief. The girl strangely pointed at them, eyes blank.

They all stared puzzled, until a man in a pinstipe red and white suit, brown hair and thick framed glasses stepped out. He was tall, but not freakishly tall, the height of a normal sized adult man. He looked to be in his mid twenties.

"Crap..." Kaito muttered. He should've known the girl told on them. He had seen her peeking at them when they first arrived, but paid her no mind. He should have assumed that she either worked for the circus or was a guest by her colorful clothing. She wasted no time recognizing them as peasants (except for Kaito himself who wore a navy blue shirt underneath his grey vest) by the coloring of their clothing.

Luka glanced at him. They all froze in place. For once, the headstrong Miku and Rin looked frightened themselves. Surely they'd be punished.

The man walked to them, the girl running closely behind. He smiled mischeviously at the group of teenagers.

"Well, well, a few trouble makers I see~" the man said. They all gulped.

"Worry not, I am not here to reprimand you. Surely you're just interested in our show, yes?" He asked. Mikuo stepped up.

"We were simply playing and got lost. The lights of your extravagant tent attracted our attention. We are just trying to get home." As a young man who constantly played pranks and got into trouble at the orphanage, he learned to become a smooth liar in order to protect himself from reprecussion.

The man chuckled.

"Is that so? But judging by the looks of your lady friends, you curiosity has strayed a bit too far...?

"Fear not, though! I will not tattle you to your parents on one condition."

Len's arm around Rin's waist tightened. Mikuo took a protective step in front of his twin, and Kaito kept an eye on Luka and Gumi.

"What is it you want?" Kaito asked calmly, though his voice had a stormy undertone to it, showing the man that they weren't willing to comply to just _anything_ he wanted.

The man tapped his chin, as if thinking, though he knew exactly what he wanted.

"Come back tomorrow." He said finally. They all gained puzzled looks to their faces Rin looked heartbroken.

"Even as much as they work, my parents could never afford to just pay five pounds for me to attend..." She said. Would that mean she'd be punished? "And Len's parent's couldn't pay for me and _him_."

Len held her tight. "If she can't go, I won't go as well."

Gumi bit her lip. "My grandmother is sick and money is already scarce as is. I have no relatives to lend me money..."

Luka sighed. "The orphanage would never pay fifteen pounds for us to go." Kaito gulped. He could easily afford to pay for them all. But he wasn't sure if he, or anyone else standing here for that matter, were ready to see more stuff like that...that _thing_.

The man stretched his arms out grandly. He grinned victoriously.

"Ah, but the fare will be free, my friends!" He said. "My condition, is that you are to come to the show and enjoy it. If you don't, we shall report to your guardians of this mishap! But if you do, than you'll have a lifetime guarantee to see the show, for _free_."

He gestured to the young girl down at his legs. "This here is my lovely younger sister, Meiko. Simply see her tomorrow at seven thirty, and we'll prepare special seats. Just for you."

The atmosphere was grave, contrary to the man's happy vibe. They all nodded grimly in understanding of the conditions. The man then went back to his mischevious smirk, voice seemingly dark in undertone.

"_Then, I shall see you tomorrow."_


End file.
